DAVAO CITY—As new COVID-19 cases swell in the National Capital Region, the local government of Davao prepares for the worst.
Mayor Sara Duterte said the city had been stepping up measures to ensure the detection and prevention of new cases to preempt the possible impact of the NCR surge in the Davao region.
“We will issue a letter for the RITF (Regional Inter-agency Task Force) for them to study if it would be beneficial to reimpose screening in regional borders,” Duterte said in her regular radio program on Monday (April 5).
Provinces within Davao region have earlier eased border screenings after the community quarantine level in their areas had been degraded based on the recommendation of the IATF. Davao City is currently on general community quarantine.
Duterte said the city issued a new COVID-19 detection policy to significantly increase the testing of residents with symptoms and the testing of close contacts of those found positive for SARS Cov2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
“What we want is to reach the F2 and F3 contacts of a confirmed case,” Duterte said.
In infectious disease detection and surveillance algorithm, F0 is the confirmed case while F1 is the close contact of the confirmed case. Based on the algorithm, F2 is the close contact of F1 while F3 is the close contact of F2.
In the previous detection policy, only those identified as F1 will be tested by local health workers here.
Duterte said that in increasing the efficiency of the system, the Davao QR Code System would be used not just in detecting but also in notifying residents if they had possible close contact with a confirmed case.
“The DQR app will send a message informing that you are up for testing. There is no need to panic. It will also provide the schedule and the location of the health center for the testing,” Duterte said.
The mayor also clarified that the RT-PCR tests for residents with symptoms and close contacts of confirmed cases would be free of charge.
Duterte also reassured residents they had no reason to fear being subjected to COVID-19 testing.
“For surveillance swabbing, you will not be immediately isolated. The only time that you will be transported is once you tested positive,” Duterte said.
Once tested positive, a resident will be quarantined in a government temporary treatment and monitoring facility for 10 days and will be asked to continue to quarantine at home for another four days.
“If you need medical attention, you will be transported to the Southern Philippines Medical Center where a doctor will take care of you,” Duterte said.
According to the Department of Health, there are 323 actives cases in the city with a total 13,831 confirmed cases. Davao City had 674 deaths due to COVID-19.
Amid the current decline in the number of new COVID-19 cases in the city, Duterte asked the public to be be more vigilant and more conscious in observing health protocols to avoid a mega surge.
“We will not let COVID-19 define us and the development and growth of our city,” Duterte said.
The city has already prepared funds and essential goods in case the IATF will re-impose an enhanced community quarantine in Davao.
TSB